Friday, February 29, 2008

The Winnipeg Free Press, the leading MSM source of news in Manitoba, is learning a hard lesson about modern technology. Their flirtation with the internet is bringing them nothing but grief, as their manipulations of the news are being exposed by their own website postings.

Yesterday on the show we read aloud from the post on the WFP website about the fundraising stunt by the Friends of Upper Fort Garry. In conjunction with CJOB, two famous millionaires pretended to spontaeneously add $500,000 each to the Friends campaign to raise $3.5 M to "save" the Fort (though no one has explained what it is being saved from). The Freep's first story exposed the stage-managed donations. Within minutes of reading that story on the air, a new version appeared online which wiped out all references to what really happened on CJOB and tried to wrap the Friends in the flag of protecting Manitoba's history against rapacious land developers.

But thanks to the magic of cut and paste, we have both versions for your reading enjoyment (emphasis mine).

ORIGINAL posted at 1.04 PM

Asper, Richardson donate $1 M to fortUpdated: February 28, 2008 at 01:04 PM CSTPrint ArticleE-mail Article The Richardson and Asper families gave a million-dollar boost today to a campaign to save Upper Fort Garry, the site of a former historic fort in downtown Winnipeg.

Hartley Richardson and David Asper each donated $500,000 from their family foundations in calls they made in person to a live radio show staged today to help the Friends of Upper Fort Garry.

The friends is a loose network of business groups, historians, and politicians, working together to save money to preserve the site which played centre stage in Manitoba’s entry into confederation. The target is to raise $3.5 million by the end of March.The group hired a publicist who set up CJOB radio as the selected venue to prime public donations. Then the city’s two most generous patrons agreed to make their donations public in live calls.

The announcements have not been made official in separate statements to the public yet. Spokespeople are expected to be offer comments later in the day.

Now the seriously amended version posted at 4.43 PM

Breaking News$1-M boost for campaign to save Upper Fort GarryBy: Alexandra PaulUpdated: February 28, 2008 at 04:43 PM CSTTwo prominent Winnipeg families, the Richardsons and the Aspers, made a $1 million donation today to boost a campaign to save Upper Fort Garry, the historic site in downtown Winnipeg.

And in response, ordinary Winnipeggers called a local radio station and may have added as much as $600,000 in a single morning of pledges once they heard about the million, the campaign's chairman said. The number is a preliminary figure and will be confirmed at a later time, said Jerry Gray, chair of Friends of Upper Fort Garry.

Hartley Richardson and David Asper each donated $500,000 from their family foundations.

"I feel great. We have to raise $3.5 million in a month so when you get two pledges for $500,000 each, it's a great step forward to our goal. And it's great publicity," said Gray.

The Friends is a network of business groups, historians, civic and aboriginal politicians.

The city has said the Friends must raise $12.5 million by the end of March and get control of a privately-owned curling club on the site. Only then will the city kick in its share, the land itself valued at $2 million.

The battle between history and profit is turning into a contest of loyalty for city councillors and it's raising the profile of history in the hearts and minds of ordinary Winnipeggers.

In addition to $3.5 million in private funds, the group wants $4.5 million each from federal and provincial levels of government.

The March 31 deadline is looming, unless the group wins an extension which is something they're working on.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca*************Today the Winnipeg Sun reported the Million Dollar Phone Call (tm CJOB) was "already included in the Friends' $2.5-million capital campaign total" and "The group received approximately $75,000."

On today's show we will try to get answers about the $525,000 discrepancy.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

I’m not trying to pick on Dan Lett, but the things he says really angers up the blood, and before I know it my fingers are a-typing away. Now this ‘kinda white liberal’ news paper columnist starts out with very harsh words towards the latest Conservative campaign of direct mail to voters, accusing the current NDP government of being soft on crime. Well, Mister Doer and his government sure aren’t tough on crime. I can point out various cases where the public was sure given a disservice by our justice system.

The case that sticks out in my mind, when I first realized something was wrong with our justice system, occurred in 2001. A 15-year-old punk killed a 21-year-old refugee from Iraq with an 8-Ball in a sock. Justice Ron Meyers pronounced sentence - only 1 day in a juvenile detention center (Homie don’t play that game indeed), and 15 months of supervision after spending 108 days in pre-trial custody. This was upheld 7-0 by the Supreme Court of Canada because they decided general deterrence has no place under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Where else can we look to see that our justice system is failing us? Look at all the ‘Level 4’ MPI offenders: stealing hordes of cars, young car thieves ramming police with the stolen vehicles, police just recently being shot at, the murder of an 8-month pregnant woman, and the lack of justice for the Crystal Taman family as a few examples. If hearing about stories such as these don’t shock and anger up the blood something is wrong.

Now when I first read Dan Lett’s blog, it was a jaw dropping experience. His whole attitude left a bad taste in my mouth. But then I got to thinking about how most of the crime that happens in Winnipeg happens in low-income areas: Magnus, Spence, Logan. I’m not saying everyone who lives there are criminals, I’m just saying more often then not, the crime stat dot is going to land around one of these streets.

So now, go and re-read Mr Lett’s blog and replace the word crime, with the word poverty…Lindor Reynolds would be all over that like South Park’s homeless on some spare change, at the notion we should accept the degree of poverty here in Winnipeg because it's way worse in Vancouver's east side or on some far-flung reserve near James Bay.

Back to Dan Lett’s blog, He brings up six examples of horrific crime that have happened in other provinces. Then he states this:

“The Tories may think it’s not safe anywhere in Manitoba, but I think most people in Manitoba and throughout the country realize they are not in immediate danger. Yes, crime sucks. But so does fear mongering.”

I think what he left out was something like “Me and my family and friends are safe in our ivory towers. Since most of the crime that is happening in my city and across the country doesn’t affect me, well it just doesn’t matter.”

Take the blue pill Dan. This whole attitude of ‘crime is happening everywhere else so it’s OK for it to happen here’ is bullshit. We all can see that crime is a problem and we all want it to stop.

It is this attitude of complacency that has spread throughout our city that has lead it to deteriorate to the state it is in now. We are not good enough to have a NHL team, we are not good enough to have a world-class stadium, our roads are good enough, crime happens every else, so why not here.

Again I bring up the business example, if Winnipeg was a business and we had a re- occurring problem with employees getting injured by the equipment we use, would we:

A) Ignore itB) Try to fix it.

No world-class successful company has every picked A. So why are we settling for it now? There may be crime coast to coast, but that doesn’t mean it’s alright. We, as a community, should start working together and try to become country leaders in crime prevention, and crime solutions.

Oh, and just a few days after his blog post, the Winnipeg Free Press posted a story stating that Winnipeg in 2006 was the second most 'crime with violence' city in Canada, second only to Vancouver with their asian/african/biker and other gangs.

Yes, complacency sucks, and I’m trying to rock people out of their little ruts.

Friday, February 22, 2008

I was thrilled beyond belief to have a special guest on the show Thursday. Hockey and Canadian Sports Hall of Fame member "The Big M", Senator Frank Mahovlich, joined us from Nunavet to take part in our special program.To so many, Tim Horton is a name associated with a commercial enterprise. The true greatness and longevity of his NHL career- 6 time All Star, second only to Bobby Orr in All Star voting as a defenseman in 1967-68 and 68-69, 4 Stanley Cups, second rearguard to tally 100 career goals - is virtually unknown. His death in a car crash after a Buffalo loss at Maple Leaf Gardens, at age 44, was a shock and his loss is felt to this day. We decided that in his honour, we would observe the anniversary of his passing as Tim Horton Day, and set out to find the best possible expert on the subject.Mahovlich, the legendary left winger on 6 Stanley Cup winners, told about watching Horton get clobbered by Ranger defenceman Bill Gadsby in March 1955 and the horrible spiral break of Tim's leg, while at the same time having his jaw shattered in the collision, dual injuries that almost ended his career; being a rookie two years later and finding out his roommate was Horton; winning 4 Cups with Horton, 3 in a row from 62-64 and finally the 1967 Centennial year win over Montreal Canadiens, his generous nature, a loving father, a good husband. The human side of the hockey giant, Mahovlich said, was as inspiring a role model as his accomplishments on the ice. And that, hockey fans, is why on this day, we should all take a moment to remember his life and his legacy.We extend our deepest appreciation to Senator Frank Mahovlich for taking the time to bring us his remembrance of his friend and my childhood hero, Tim Horton.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Let’s not break out the Half Pints yet - there is still a lot of work to do. But if we have a national public alerting system in place by 2010, I will take Chuck Sanderson out for a Half Pints at the King’s Head Pub.

CanAlert is no more; it is now the National Public Alerting System. But let’s not be fooled, industry Canada was still given the project of creating a national warning system in 1995. So if the system is established by 2010, it will have taken 15 years to get this up and running.Back in 1995, things like cell phones, and blackberries were not as prevalent as they are now, if not just concepts on a drawing board. It would have been pretty expensive to have a public alerting system that would notify you on your cell phone, and even then how many people would it reach? Not very much. The other option is TV and radio, and for that to happen legally, they would need to change their licenses.

Fast forward to now.

Everyone and their dog has a cell phone (except for those few holdouts like me) and broadcasters are voluntarily changing their licenses so they would be in compliance when they are broadcasting warnings. This is good, as the Feds have asked them to change it by 2009, or else… I don’t know, most likely fines. As far as the warnings you currently see, it’s only been out of the goodness of our broadcaster’s hearts that they broadcast any weather warnings. And lets face it, if you know CKY warns the public of a emergency and some other station doesn’t, you are more likely to watch CKY when the skies darken.

What, in theory, is going to happen when there is an emergency such as tornadoes, floods or chemical spills, is you will get notified on your cell phone. Hopefully it will be like an alarm that will keep chirping and chirping until you turn it off. This service should be coast to coast to coast. Then it breaks down to what the individual municipalities think they need. Trained people will be working across the country 24/7 to ensure that when a warning is needed, it will be provided.

There will also be an Internet service to alert people. You’ll be able to sign up to get warnings sent to your email.

But this doesn’t help low income families. Families that don’t have cell phones or black berries, What about these people? What about anybody at 3 AM, your cell phone, if you have one, has died and you are charging it while it’s off. Living in a major municipality how are you going to get warned of that midnight tornado? Maybe air sirens? A reverse 911 system? These are the important little details that need to get address by the municipalities.

And now that you have been warned, what do you do? Does your four-year-old child know what to do in an emergency? Chances are you have a good idea what to do in case of a fire, or flooding. We already teach our kids in schools what to do in case of fire, flood, or extreme cold. Now all we need to start teaching them what to do in case of tornados.

We have two years to create the system and train the people and standardize the messages that get broadcasted to cell phones. Two years to teach our kids what to do in case these warning pop up one day while they are out playing a pick of game of soccer in the park. Two years, and its only taken us 13 years to cross the starting line.

The cost should be around 16 million. That will be split 50/50 between the fed and provinces and territories. Then the 8 million will be split among the provinces on a per capita basis. Leaving Manitoba to pay somewhere around $350,000. A price tag I think we are all too happy to pay.

Just remember that this is a story that affects all of us. And it is a Great Canadian Talk Show exclusive!No other news outlet, mainstream or alternative has had the drive and determination to jump through every hoop.Go back and forth between the feds and provincial government, for months over and over again.No one else has tried to get opinions from other provinces and territories.No one else feels that a common sense public alerting system is needed, or is worth any space on any page in any newspaper.CanAlert, just another story the mainstream media chooses to ignore in favor of the most recent pictures of Britney Spears.

I plan to keep in contact with the EMO, and Chuck Sanderson to find out what the progress is. If I find out that some one is dragging their heals on this one, I will be calling attention too it. We have the momentum to change things for the better, to make our kid’s Canada a much safer one.

Friday, February 8, 2008

What a fabulous interview yesterday with former CFL quarterback Chuck Ealey.

His frank reminicences of his rookie days in Hamilton and playing under coach Bud Riley in Winnipeg in 74-75 were a facinating retrospective of an era where being the wrong colour meant athletes like Chuck couldn't even get drafted by the NFL if they weren't willing to switch positions.Ealey was the first black quarterback to win a professional championship when he led the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to the Grey Cup in 1972.

His story and the struggles of other black quarterbacks who found their way into the CFL, is told in John Danakis' new book Choice of Colours -- at McNally Robinson bookstores and it's a great gift for kids 8 and up.

We also learned thatdespite winning 3 Tangerine Bowls and leading the University of Toledo to a 35-0 record, Chuck is not in the College Football Hall of Fame. The bogus reasoning is that even though Chuck was First Team All-American in 1971's The Football News selections, the NCAA's nomination process didn't recognize TFN selections until 1993.

In other words, Chuck is qualified for nomination to the HOF as a former All American, but not based on the rules in effect in his day.

How dumb is that.

Chuck Ealey was one of the great college QB's of the era - think Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, Joe Theismann, Rex Kern, Pat Sullivan, Terry Bradshaw - and deserves his place with the immortals of NCAA College Football.

To correct this injustice, alumni of Toledo have started a website to anchor the campaign. There is also an upcoming documentary about Ealey which we will try to screen in Winnipeg in the future.

Take the time to review the pictures and stories about Chuck online and join the movement to get him into the HOF.

Monday, February 4, 2008

More this week on the Crocus insider emails from 2003 - the story no one else will report.

Correpondence from former CEO Sherman Kreiner and Former VP Bob Jones show how far Fund managers would go to keep the truth about their precarious finances from unsuspecting investors - such as mislead and intimidate reporter Krista Erickson, and hint at legal action against the Free Press (which led then-editor Nick Hirst to send a sample of the "many letters" of complaint he received about Crocus to Kreiner). On Tuesday Paul Sveinson, a shareholder/analyst, will again join the show to review the material and look deeper into which companies got free money without proper Board oversight.

This weeks lineup:Monday : Frank the Italian Barber will shock the world with his story of how a guy from Corydon could win a bet on a team from New York. With 97.5 million viewers, the big game stands as the second-most watched show in US TV history.

Tuesday: Paul Sveinson with more of the inside story about the collapse of the Crocus Fund, direct from the Receivers report to the court - details the MSM cannot bring itself to report on; and from Los Angeles, Dan Denton of Frozen Pond Productions with the latest on the writers strike and his perspective on the Giants upset of the Patriots.

Wednesday: CTV's Crimewatch reporter Kelly Dehn is always engaging and informative on his weekly segment with us. And the returning Shannah-Lee will be providing a special report on an art program that provides quality rehabilitation for medical patients suffering depression. Thursday: Around 4.20 PM, an exclusive interview with former CFL great, QB Chuck Ealey, the focus of a fabulous new book 'Choice of Colours' by John Danakis of the University of Manitoba. The launch event will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Prairie Ink Restaurant at the McNally Robinson Grant Park store on Thursday, February 7th.

For further information on Choice of Colours click on the followinglink: http://www.mcnallyrobinson.com/winnipeg-eventsAlso every Thursday we give away a large 2-topping pizza from Atlantic Pizza, call 257-2443 and tell 'em you listen to Kick-FM!

Friday: Between our ongoing coverage of CanAlert, the SuperBylaw, the derelict buildings enforcement issues, and reviewing the transcript of our interview a few weeks back with Coun. Gord Steeves, we'll have lots to work with, along with your calls.